Little Black Box
by eaglegal4
Summary: Suspense, romance, and adventure persue Max, Fang, and the rest of the flock as they saved the world. Again. Will the romance between the two oldest bloom over a little black box and a near death experience? Fax? Read and find out. Grammer is correct...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own max, or anything mentioned in the MR series

Chapter one

Have you ever flown? With wings? Probably not; but it is so amazing! It is- there is no word to describe it really. The closest thing I cant think of that's anything like it is riding on one of those glider-thingies. It is awesome to feel the wind rippling my feathers and the rays of the sun gently rolling off of my back.

"Max!" called Gazzy.

"Hmm?" I asked, shuffling out of my trance.

"Where are we heading?" he asked me.

"Umm," think Max. Make up something quick. "It's a surprise?"

Great. Real smooth, Max, real smooth.

He huffed and flew over to Iggy, probably to discuss bombs or something.

As you all know, I'm Max. It's been a year since you left us above Lerner's School. My baby is now 7, and her brother is now nine. Talk-a-lot Nudge is now 12. Ig, Fang, and I are 15- or they could be 15 and I could be 16, I don't know. Total now has black wings, but can't use them for more them an hour at a time. He's God knows how old.

"Max?" came a quiet voice right above my ear.

I jumped and turned over. "Yes, Fang?"

He pointed behind us. I took a look and saw Nudge and the Gasman about to fall asleep in midair and Iggy holding a sleeping Angel and Total. Oops. Had I really been ranting for that long? Wow.

I turned to Fang and said, "Find a place to land."

"Okay."

I looked down, searching for a clearing or something to spend the night in.

"Max, there," Fang said, pointing downward. Aww- it was a small clearing with a brook running along the edge into a small grove of trees.

15 minutes later, I was searching through my pack, looking for some food when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight.

"Hey Fang, do you have any food in your pack?" I asked, wondering whose pack had the food.

"Lemme check," he answered, sloping away to his pack. He searched through it and a little black box popped out. I was about to ask him about it when I heard the all too familiar voice of our friends the Flyboys.

"Shit," I muttered, "Ok, everyone up in the air!"

Fang put all the stuff back into his pack, except the little black box.

Quickly, I grabbed the thing, put it in my pocket, and shove Angel into the air before launching into the air myself

_Well, _I thought grimly, _let the battle begin._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

There were about 150- great! Not.

When I got up in the air, about 25 surrounded me.

Suddenly, I had an idea. I did a corkscrew in the air, with my arms and legs out. I almost laughed at the 15 heads that flew off, but then I remembered that my flock and I were still in a battle.

I flew up, up, up into the air and surveyed the battle to see who needed help first. Angel and Nudge had teamed up and were fighting about 30; Gazzy was taking out one or 2 at a time with his "secret" explosives- I really have to find all those one of these days. Fnick and Ig had about 15 each. I turned back around just in time to see one come after me with a syringe-crap!

"Oh no you don't!" I said before snatching it. I stuck it into the robot's neck and pressed down a little, releasing about a tenth of the liquid into the body. He-sorry _it_- went down like rocks. Huh. What the hell is this stuff?

I flew over to Fang and his little party, and stuck a bit in each neck. I looked up and winked at Fang. Suddenly, he looked horrified. Then, the world went black

_Damn it. _


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I opened my eyes and stretched. Or tried to at least- when I did, my back hit plastic.

_Shit._

My eyes were still blurry from sleep. I shook them, and looked out. I saw… white and silver.

_Crap._

There was white walls, white tiles on the chemical-smelling floors, white countertops and white cabinets, white florescent lights on a white popcorn ceiling, etc. Silver metal locks on silver metal bars of silver cage that I was in, silver sink, silver metal doorknob, you get the idea.

"Where am I?" I asked to nobody in particular.

"The School, Max. You're at the School," answered the quiet voice of a little blue-eyed, dirty girl with lifeless blond curls.

"Angel? Oh Angel, are you alright? Where is everyone else?" I asked, relieved to find out that she was okay.

"I'm fine. Iggy and Nudge didn't get caught. They have Total. Gazzy was taken for testing about 20 minutes ago. And Fang, Fang has been…" she paused and whispered almost silently, her bottom lip quivering, "terminated." At that word, she burst into tears.

"What? No, not Fang. Oh God, no," I whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

They took Fang when Max was sleeping, so he never got to tell her goodbye.

They put his cage on a gurney. Where were they taking him? For another test? Then the whitecoat stopped the cart, and said quietly, "You are slated for extermination, so I'm going to let you free. None of the stuff here is humane, but I'm trying to do something good for a change. I am like Angel- I can read and control minds. I'll make the scientist think that you 'died' early, and I will try to tell the flock the truth," she paused and walked some more, then stopped at a metal door. Continuing, she said, "Now, we have to hurry: we're going to a dumpster so that I may throw away some deformed cages. Then, you must fly. Go were you have to go. Do this quietly. Got it?"

Fang nodded, then mumbled, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. And because I can. Now, come on." They were outside by now. She bent down and unlatched Fang's cage. "Go, fly!"

Fang took a running leap, threw out his wings, and burst into the sky.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

I silently cried myself to sleep. But then I woke with a start, feeling something pressed into my abdomen.

I groaned in my head and reached into my hoodie pocket, only to pull out a… little black box?

It was the one Fang had dropped when he was searching in his pack for food. _Wow. It was still here?_

_Yes, Maximum, _said a voice. The Voice. The one I hadn't heard since the battle,_ The Whitecoats didn't get it. Open it and see what in there._

_Okay…long time, no think. What gives?_

No answer. Typical Voice.

Slowly and carefully, I opened it. Inside, there was a note, and a necklace. The necklace had a pair of golden wings attached by a string of rubies starting out big and growing smaller and smaller. On the left wing, there was a cursive _F, _while on the right wing, there was a cursive _M._

I smiled, as sweet and sour tears fell from my face. I picked up the note and read it:

_Dear Max,_

_Read this note alone, or with me if you want to:_

_I hope you like this necklace. The rubies in the middle stand for the flock, the blood that we have spilled. The smallest at the bottom symbolizes Angel, the next one up, Gazzy. Then Nudge, and Iggy, and me, then you with the biggest. The wings on either side of the rubies stand for you and me, because when you went to Germany, I felt as if flying without you was like flying without one of my wings._

My stomach clenched at that sentence. I had felt _the exact same way._ I just didn't know why at the time.

_Then, when you came back, I was whole again. I love you, Max. Now, I can only hope that you love me, too._

_Fang_

He loved me? I never got to tell him that I feel the same. That I just needed time to sort out my brain. Tears were running down my face now. I, once again, fell into a deep slumber filled with nightmares. It was the only kind of sleep that you could have at the School.

The last thought that I had was: _I will get out. And when I do, I will make it my duty to destroy the Schools. Every last one. They will pay for what they've done._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Fang woke with a start. It had been about twelve hours since he was pitied and flew away. He was happy that he was free, but still the thought of Max still in there tormented him.

He crawled out of the tiny hole that had been his makeshift bed for the past amount of time. It was evening.

"Iggy, what did you make? I'm so, so hungry! I hope you made something tasty!" came an extremely familiar voice.

"I didn't make it, but I'm pretty sure some campers' are going to add us to their hate list soon," Fang could practically hear him smirking.

Fang walked-silently- to a clearing, following the voices.

"Nudge, Fig. Total." He said.

"Fang! Oh my gosh! Are you ok? What happened? Wait-never mind- I don't want to know. Where are Max, Angel, and Gazzy? I've missed you all so, so much! We're gonna come and get you tonight. Iggy was-" Nudge rambled.

"Nudge! Don't make our ears bleed! And Ig- pass me the beef- I'm starved! Fang, hold the lab? Don't worry, we'll get them out we always do," Total cut in.

"Yeah. Guys, tell me the plan. I can't come though. Long story." Fang replied.

"Ok. I won't even ask," said Iggy, "We go in through the vent system, find a control room. Nudge will hack in and find the others, while I plant remote control bombs and Total guards the exits. We'll break 'em out, plant a few more bombs. And when we're back here, I'll blow that madhouse up!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Iggy, Nudge, and Total said their goodbyes to Fang around eight. They then flew off, towards the place that could be named 'Hell on Earth,' so that their family would be whole again.

Iggy was beating his wings blissfully, wondering, waiting, wanting for Nudge to call out to him. To tell him where, to guide him. All because he was _blind._ All because some _super-smart, white coat wearing jackasses _were given cash, an operating table, and a bird-kid.

He sighed. Stupid life, crazy life. Total shifted in his arms and Iggy thought, _the life I was born into may be stupid, but if I had a normal life, I wouldn't have had my family._

"Iggy, building coming at twelve o'clock," Nudge stated. He nodded, to show that he had heard and understood, and gently shook the winged, talking dog awake.

"What now?" the little animal grumbled.

"Get up, Total, unless you want to pretend to be a skydiver," Iggy said, shaking him away, "We're here. Saving time."

"Urgh. Go away."

"Fine. Splatter time."

"NO! I'm up! Don't kill me, flying freak!"

"_Flying freak? _You've got wings, too, mongrel! And you're a dog that _talks. _I don't know if you knew that, but dogs aren't supp-"

"Guys! Stop fighting! Why do they call it fighting anyway? I mean, couldn't they call it worsting or something?" Nudge started. "Anyhow, _shut up._ I'm trying to look for a way in." She walked away, and Total followed.

Iggy sat softly on the roof of the horrible building that their flock was in. he waited for Nudge's gentle, soft, mocha hand to guide him to the entrance. _This, _he thought,_ is one of the worst part of being blind: always being in the dark. The best is probably-_

_Iggy? Where are you guys? If you're coming to save us, Gazzy is passed out, Max is miserable, and Fang is de-dead, _Angel's voice fluttered into Iggy's head, her voice breaking at the statement of Fang's death.

_Angel, sweetie, we're gonna rescue you. And don't worry, Fang's alive. Trust me. He's about five miles out, waiting for us. We're gonna find a control room, locate you guys, plant a bomb. Then we'll get to you, plant a bomb, and get the hell-_

_Language! _The littlest bird-girl scolded.

_Sorry. After we plant a bomb, we'll get out, go to Fang, and blow up the building. Tell Max, and see if you can wake the Gasman. _Iggy continued.

_Okay! See you soon! _Angel replied.

"Guys! Come on," called Nudge, having found the opening to the system.

Iggy sighed, walked over to her, and gently lowered himself into the vent.

Let the saving begin…


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Iggy! Total! Over here!" Nudge called. She had found the control room, and had just finished working on using her power to undo the bolts securing the metal plate to the rest of the vent. "I found it! There's tons and tons of computers everywhere! I got the screws out using my power. Isn't that like totally awesome? It's my favori-"

"Nudge, I know that you love to talk, but now isn't the right time, ok?" Iggy cut in.

"OK. Come on, let's go, I guess," Nudge jumped down, clearly upset.

Iggy sighed, "Come on, mutt, we don't want Nudge to get any madder, or CSI will be called." He jumped down to where Nudge was waiting.

_10 minutes later_

"Guys! I found them! They're in room 134. We're in room 367, so that means, 'cause we're on the third floor, we gotta go down two floors. I hope we can do this. Don't you? I mean, this is the first time that I've ever done something big without Max or Fang to help. Hey, are you ready to go? Did you set the bombs? How do you make bombs, anyway? Do you-" Nudge rambled.

Iggy cut her off, "Nudge! Yes, I've set the bombs. C'mon Total. Let's go. Hey, are we taking the stairs?"

"The elevators are off for the night, so, yeah we are."

"Cool."

_15 minutes later_

"Ok. That was room 132, and across from it is 131. So that means that this is it," Nudge paused. Iggy could here her jiggle the doorknob, and said, "Here, let a pro do it." Then he took out his lock picking kit and bent down, getting to work on the lock. A few minutes later, the door swung open, and Iggy picked up total and said, "Here we go."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

When I woke, I subconsciously felt for my necklace. It gave me adrenaline, getting me ready for a new day. It made me feel loved- that I was never going to be alone, no matter how I felt. It made me want to kick some whitecoat ass.

Like always, the white lights gave me tunnel vision, and the chemically smell made my nostrils burn for a minute.

'Angel' I asked in my mind, knowing that she was awake, too.

She answered right away, too- like I'd expected, 'Max? That was a nice gift. I'm sorry that you told him how you fe-'

'Sweetie, I know. It's alright because when we get out of here- and we will get out of here- we're gonna destroy every single one of these places. They will not hurt anybody else ever again! Ok?' She nodded, which I took as a yes.

'Now, where is Gazzy?'

'Wind tunnel experiment,' she replied. I winced-the wind tunnel experiment was one of the worst experiments. It was where the scientists test how far and for how long you can fly. The bastards make you stay in there until you die, faint, or break your wings. We always either passed out, or pretended to pass out.

I finally looked Angel over. She had three or four showing burn marks on each arm. She had a healing bruise on her left leg, and claw marks on her right. She had a scabbing gash from her right temple to her chin.

'Oh, baby. What did they do to you?' I exclaimed in my head. We talked like that in fear of cameras.

'experiments: wind tunnel, coal tracks, and mazes. I fought.' She said.

I was torn between congratulating her, and ripping the door of my cage open to go see if she was ok.

'It's ok, Max, I heard you. I understand,' she thought to me, melting my heart like she used to when she was a four-year-old. I looked over to her cage and smiled, which ended our conversation.

After a while, she slowly went to sleep. I sat back on my heals, trying not to think of how Fang and I could have been- together, like a couple. Instead, I thought about how we were going to escape, what Iggy and Nudge were doing, stuff like that.

Some time later, they brought the Gasman back in. He was fast asleep, the poor little guy.

I checked my watch. It read 7:26 P.M. Bedtime for the oldest bird kid.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

My thought wouldn't quiet, though. I checked my watch: it read 8:13. Oh well, I guess I was in for another sleepless night. Yippee.

'Max?' a tiny voice called out in my head. It was Angel-my little girl.

'What sweetie?' I asked automatically, extremely tired.

'I just talked to Iggy!' she exclaimed in my head.

'What?' I pondered, fully awake now.

'They're coming, Max! Iggy, Nudge, and Total are coming to save us! And Max, Fang is alive! He's waiting for us in a clearing,' she stated elatedly.

It took a second for it all to sink in. My thoughts were going everywhere. _They are coming. Fang's alive. We're gonna get out of here. Fang's alive. They're gonna save us. Fang's alive._

"He's alive," I breathed. I was going to get a second chance. I was going to be able to tell him how much I loved him.

And then I thought: _Shit. Fang's going to kill me when he finds out about the necklace._

Then I heard a tinkling laugh inside my head as Angel said to me, 'Don't worry, Max, I'm sure he wont be _that _mad at you.'

'Oh, thanks,' I replied sarcastically as Angel projected her sweet grin into my head.

'Max? We need to wake up Gazzy.'

The Gasman proved to be very difficult to wake up. It wasn't until Angel screamed in his head to wake up that he actually awoke. Or maybe I should say _threatened, _because one second he's snoring peacefully; the next, Gasser is popping up screaming, "No! Please, no!" over and over, while his little sister had an evil smile on her face. Needless to say, I stayed out of it.

Around thirty minutes later-though, it felt like a century-Angel's sweet little head popped up.

"They're coming!" she quietly bounced up and down with her enjoyment. _Thank you, whoever's up there, watching us. Thank you, for my second chance. _I prayed silently.

As we waited, I began to hear the usual signs of a rescue mission-padded feet; light, tough breathing; and so on.

Then we all heard what we had been waiting for;

Nudge's voice saying, "Ok. That was room 132, and across from it is 131. So that means that this is it,"

A moment or too later, after a couple more words were passed, the door was pushed open.

It was all over in a flash though-cages were unlocked, the flock scrambled out, ad we actually got out without beating up anyone.

That is until the _two _guards (they're really slacking on their security these days) showed up. They were out really quick. Just a swift uppercut to one, and a twist of the neck to the other.

Then, we burst into the sky, me leading the group with Nudge by my side, and Iggy and the siblings behind us.

As we flew into the night, I imagined what I would say to Fang. It wasn't until Nudge told me that we were there that I realized she had been quiet the _entire _way. I called the others down and we landed, me waiting breathlessly for what was to come next.

Then, he stepped out of the shadows, and in to the moonlight, towards me.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Hey," was all he said. Then, I was running to him.

The look in his eye made me stop a few feet short of him though. It was different, unlike anything I'd ever seen in his eyes before. It was a mix of many different things: relief, friendship, anger, and another emotion. It was…love. Wait, love? _Love?_

The next second, however, he was by my side, fingering my necklace whispering, "Where did you find this?"

"What?" I asked, confused. Vaguely, I heard Iggy herding the younger kids away, giving us some privacy. Thank you.

"The necklace, Max," He said, his voice louder, angrier than before, "Where? When? _Why?_"

"When you flew up to fight the battle," it seemed like a century ago, "You left it. Me, being curious, snatched it up. I didn't get a chance to open it until I found out that you had been 'terminated,'" I stated, my throat closing in. He looked at me, most likely wondering what I was going to say next. I let loose a tear, remembering the sadness knowing that he loved me and that I could never return the favor, "Fang, I thought that you had _died. _That I would never be able to tell you how much I love you. I'm sorry that I opened it without your permission."

With that, he tilted my head up with the gentle hold of his left hand, flicking away the single tear with his thumb, "Max?"

"Hmm?" I said while trying to capture the tears that were trying to escape.

"I love you, too." Then, like a dream come true, like a princess finding her true love after a lifetime of loneliness, he gave me a sweet gentle peck on the lips. As he pulled away, he said, "You know, that necklace was your Valentine's Day present," then he put his arms around my waist, and leaned down to kiss me again.

I pulled back just in time, though. Leaning, with my back arching over his arms, I put my arms around his neck. He raised his eyebrows, so I said, "Wait, what day is it?"

"February thirteenth. Why?"

"No reason," I responded, and learned in to kiss him again.

But, before I could, though, Iggy came up to us, saying, "Guys, I know that you hormonal teenagers _love _sucking faces with each other, but everyone else is very hungry."

I just walked away, because, like I had expected, Fang had Iggy on the dirty, rocky floor of the clearing, punching Iggy's guts out, saying, "I don't ever want to hear you say something like that. Got it?"

By then, I was back at camp, searching my backpack- which Nudge and Iggy had graciously saved- for food. I found about twenty energy bars and passed out two for every bird kid, and one to Total, who was about a foot off the ground using his new wings.

I sat down on one of the logs, thinking, listening. Iggy and Fang came back into the clearing then, laughing, obviously, and I tossed them their dinner. After everyone had finished their bars, I ushered them off to bed, automatically calling first watch. Fang called second, leaving Iggy with third.

Angel and Nudge curled up around Total in the empty hole of a long-ago fallen tree, asleep; the Gasman was leaning against another tree; and Iggy was sleeping on a limb. Fang was… next to me? Wow-that was fast. He opened his mouth ready to speak.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"Max?" Fang asked softly, gazing up through the forest's cover at the beautiful, peaceful blanket of stars that covered the endless midnight sky.

"Yeah?" I responded, heavily engrossed in my own thoughts.

"Why have you always run away from me?"

I sighed. I knew that this topic would come up sooner or later. I personally preferred later. I began my answer, pondering what I would say and how I would say it.

"I-I guess, I don't know! I was afraid, okay? Does that answer your stupid question, Mr. Know-it-all?" By the end of my statement, I was furious. Why did he want to know? Who cares, anyway?

"Chill, Max. Breathe," He said. I shot one of my signature dagger glances his way, but obeyed and waited for him to continue.

"I just wanted to know, that's all. I didn't understand then, but I do now. I guess," he started, looking everywhere except me. Taking a deep breathe, he continued, "I guess I would have done the same thing."

"You- you-" I was going to say something, but was cut off by Fang's firm, gentle lips being pressed against mine. He tilted his head to increase the kiss, leaving me to breathe out of my nose. As I became braver, I began to press back with determination. I felt him smirk against my lips, but continued.

Suddenly, a faint buzzing sound over took my senses, and I pulled away. Fang raised his eyebrows, and I cupped my hand around my ear-our sign for: listen, there's danger somewhere nearby. He nodded as he heard it too.

_Max._

I jumped. _What? You know, right now is really not the best time for you too jump in._

_Wake the flock Max. get in the air, but leave Total hidden-he wont be able to fly for long, and the flyboys will capture him._ Came the voice.

Following the voice's orders, I gave Fang a quick rundown. I woke everyone up as Fang put everything in the backpacks, handing them off to their owner before they burst into the sky. As I got mine, I quickly put the necklace into one of the pockets before bursting into the night sky.

_Voice, how many are there?_

_There are around two hundred. Remember the 3D plan? _

_With the first flying Erasers?_

_Yes, Max. Use that plan._ And then it was gone.

"Guys! Use the 3D plan! Everyone ready?" I shouted.I got a collection of agreements as our little army flew off to meet the big, evil, greedy giant.

It happen very, very fast, but exceedingly slow at the same time. In a flash, and a boom, the bombers of my flock had taken out fifteen or so. As metallic pieces flew past me, cutting me, I joined the horrific fight, Fang on my right, and Angel holding her own on my left. Iggy and the Gasman were at the top; Nudge in the middle

_Drop, Max. _I obeyed the voice without question. I dropped thirty feet, looking up in time to see three Flyboys crash right where I had been less than a second ago. I flew out of the way as they plummeted down, then went back into position, fighting against five. Then, out of nowhere, came a firm fist to my stomach. I dropped for a second time, catching my breath. This time, however, I surveyed the battle, seeing who needed aid. Angel was probably in the worst condition; one arm hanging at a crooked stance. Nudge was doing fine with her power-she had four robots; Iggy and Gazzy were working together, killing almost ten at a time with their handy dandy bombs. Fang was, well, like a fang-crushing everything in his path.

As I flew to Angel, I could tell that something was wrong. She was fading-her eyes closing for a longer time than usual.

_Max, she has been shot with a tranquilizer dart. She will faint in…3…2…1. _At that instant, her eyes closed, and she started falling to her death.

But not before I caught her.

"Fang! Iggy! Someone!" I called, "Fang! Cover me-I'm going to land, see what's wrong."

Fang instantaneously destroyed the other two Flyboys and rushed over, taking over Angel's bunch. There were fifteen now.

Iggy followed me and my lifeless baby girl by sound. Seconds later-although, it felt like eons- I landed.

Everything was a blur. Angel was on the ground in an instant, and Iggy was calculating all of her bumps and bruises. He was talking under his breath, stating everything. "Her pulse is very faint, Max." He said.

Then, the battle was over. The buzz stopped, and you could hear four sets of wings droop down. Nudge ran over, exclaiming, "Max! Max! What happened? Is Angel ok? The battle's over-"

"I don't know, sweetie. Ig?" I asked, hesitantly. _Be okay Angel. Sweetie, pull through, for me. For your brother, for the flock._

He took a deep breath, and said, "Yes. She will be fine, but she has many broken bones and other injuries. She'll wake up in a few hours."

Thank you, God.

I took a look at everyone. Gazzy looked ready to pass out, but also trying to keep a strong face on; Nudge was leaning onto Fang, tired as anything. That was all the proof that I needed. I quickly sent them to bed, and within minutes, everyone was out for the count, including me. Fang had offered to take watch, and to wake me when Angel woke. So, I snuggled into Fang's side, and drifted into a bottomless sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

I woke with someone's arms around me, and somebody else-or so I thought-pulling my shoulders back and forth like a lever, possibly trying to get me up. My first thought was: _The Flyboys are back, and they've got the flock! _My body started to go into my routine attack stance, while I quickly prepared my mind for an ambush.

Then I realized that it was only my ever obnoxious and silent best friend.

"What, Fang?" I asked, exasperated for some unknown reason.

"She's awake," he replied.

Duh. Wait, who? What was he talking about?

_Angel. She got hurt in the attack, _the Voice supplied.

Then I remembered yesterday: The _kiss_, the mêlée, the fainting, the fear. As my mind caught up with beforehand events, a sweet, child-like voice broke into my thoughts with one simple word.

"Max?"

Then I was up, running, hugging. I was stroking my baby's dirty curls, close to sobbing, but not letting myself go. "Angel, you're ok!"

"Max! I feel fine! I'm ok; I just have a bruise above my left eyebrow. See?"

"Yes, honey, I see it. I'm so, so sorry." I looked over Angel. She had a healing bruise (thanks to our rapid healing abilities) above her left eyebrow, near the tip of her hairline.

"It's ok, Max. S'not your fault," she replied.

"I know." Then she skipped away to were Nudge was, and once she was there, snuggling down to a nights sleep.

Once she had fallen asleep, I turned to Fang. "What time is it?"

"Quarter past twelve," came his ever silent reply. Always the dark and mysterious type.

I decided to be a little mischievous for once. You know, have a little flirty fun. Although, I don't think I was very good…

"Valentine's Day." Evil smirk.

"Yeah," comment custody of my…boyfriend?

"You know what that means, right?" I tried to be flirty like those stupid, shallow plastics in the movies. I sauntered over to him as his pools of cacao followed me, watching my every move.

"Not really."

"It means," I took a beep breath, then flopped onto him, pushing him so that he was on the forest floor, while I straddled his pelvis. "I get to give you my Valentine's Day gift."

With that, I lunged so that my leader lips were on his luscious, familiar lips. I felt his smirk against mine, and then I launch myself into a battle with him. I wasn't really winning though.

After a while, I felt something moist push against my lips. It took me a moment to realize that it was his tongue, begging for entrance to my mouth. So, obviously, I granted it and a more intense battle began. The battle of my mouth.

We were like this for quite a while, until stupid me just had to _moan _out of pleasure. We pulled back away from each other, staring at the flock, waiting for them to wake. It was Iggy that woke. Of course it _had _to be the _blind guy _with the_ best senses! _

"Max, Fang? Are you guys having sex? Oh, _oh my God_! You're sixteen! Eww, eww, eww, eww, _ewwwwww!_" Then, in the morning light, he began to grin wickedly.

"Iggy," Fang tersely began, "we weren't doing any-"

"Sure," he said, drawing out the _r_. Then, "Wait till the flock finds out about this."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

"Iggy," I told him. "you have exactly one second to run. Starting…" I looked over at Fang. In a millisecond, we had worked out an attack plan. He would hold Igward down while I got to do the beating. Fang then finished my statement, "Now."

Then, Iggy was on the ground, and my knees were holding him down. I punched him over and over, saying, "You take that back, you incredibly sexist pig, or I swear to God that I will make your life a _living hell. _Take it back _now. _Huh? What did you say? I can't hear you. Louder!"

"Okay! Mercy! Stop! Please don't kill me! I'm too young to die!" He cried. Wimp.

Of course Iggy just _had _to wake up the rest of the flock.

"Max? what's goin' on?" asked the Gasman.

"Nothing sweetie. Why don't you go back to bed?" I answered him, concealing my anger as best as I could.

Then I saw the intense look of wonder on angel's face as she opened her mouth. We. Were. So. Doomed. "I know what happened!" she exclaimed joyfully. "Max was trying to flirt with Fang: and they kissed. Max accidentally moaned, and Iggy woke up. He said something, and Max and Fang tackled him. Max, what's sex?" she finished her speech by directing that dangerous question at me.

Then Iggy mischievously put in: "Yeah, Max. What is sex?"

Everyone looked over to me as cheeks became redder and redder. What do I do; what do I do?

"Umm, well… it's when-"

Fang decided to put me out of my misery. "Angel, you'll learn when you're older. Okay?"

I shot a grateful smile his was and got his version of a 'your welcome' smile- a slight upward twitch of his lips.

"Ok, I guess. But I really, really wanted to know," she whined.

"Angel-" I started, only to be cut off by Nudge.

"Look, Angel. You really, really, really don't want to know. It's weird stuff that grown-ups do that they think is fun. I wonder why, 'cause it's way gross. It's like-" ramble produced by my mocha colored little (adopted) sis cut off curtesy of moi. And my 'shut up now' glance that I shot her way.

I sighed. Looking up to the sky- which was turning peach by the rising sun, I said to the others, "Okay, guys. We're gonna hurry up and head on out of here. How would you guys like to see Mom, Ella, and the dogs?"

"I'm always up for seeing the love of my life."

"Oooh! I wanna see Ella. We can talk about everything! Like, shopping, boys, fashion, school(real school), music,…" take a wild guess who that was.

"It's got a kitchen and food, right. Then I guess I'm in." said our fully-recovered chef.

"Cool!"

"Awesome! Free choco-chip cookies!" Right on, Gazzer.

"Sure." Wow. Fang actually responded. For once.

Angel giggled, hearing my thoughts, probably.

I decided to let it go and said, "Ok, guys! Lets pack and fly!"

We cleaned up camp and burst into the morning sky. Back on schedule.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

I stood by the bay window, gazing out at the beautiful sunset that was taking place outside. I wrapped my chilly hands around the now lukewarm cup of coffee, sighing as I remember the times that I used to do this back at the old E-shaped house. Back with Jeb.

Someone walked into the living room. "Good morning, Honey. Well, you're up early," my totally awesome mother said. She came over and, putting her arm over my shoulder, kissed my head. Then she walked into the kitchen and took out a pan. "I was thinking pancakes. Sound good?"

"Yup." I followed her and put my empty mug in the sink. "I'll go wake the others."

She absent mindedly nodded as she read the instructions.

My mother had a four bedroom house. Her bedroom was on the first floor; while Ella's, the office, and the guest bedroom were on the second floor.

After I woke Ella up, I went into the guest bedroom, where Angel, Nudge, and I slept. "Hey, Angel. Nudge, come on you lazy-bum, wake up." I threw open the drapes to let the Arizona sun in. Nudge rolled over, groaned, and covered her head with a spare pillow.

After I had managed to wake Nudge up, I headed up to the attic, where the boys were sleeping. Fang and I had devised a little plan after last night when I almost walked in on him as he was changing. I knocked on the wall, pausing as I went up the stairs, and waited for Fang to call out to me. I could tell that he was awake from the soft tapping of the laptop keys.

"Its clear," he called softly. "What'd ya want?"

I continued up. "Breakfast in fifteen," I said as I sat on his sleeping bag. I leaned over to peer at the computer screen-he was checking his blog-like thing. I seriously can't believe that he still kept that.

"Hey, Max." said Iggy. He was staring up at the ceiling with his sightless blue eyes. "Don't you know that when you're cooking breakfast you're not supposed to spend time with your silent boyfriend?"

"Yes, you blind pyromaniac. I know that," I said as Fang chucked the pillow next to me at him. "Besides, I'm not cooking-Mom is."

"And now I am, too," he said as he got up and started walking downstairs.

I got up after he left and went over to where I assumed the Gasman was sleeping, seeing as the red tangle of sleeping bag material resembled him, along with the awful stench that surrounded the lump. "Gazzy, sweetie, wake up. Breakfast in ten." I plugged my nose with my left thumb and pointer finger. I turned and started down the stairs after I gave Fang a look that told him to be there soon.

Then I went into the bathroom and started to brush my teeth.

I sighed, _Life as a mutant-bird-kid-teenage-mother is never ending._

Fifteen minutes later, we had all sat down to eat the delicious breakfast my mom and Iggy had conjured up. I noticed how close Ella had sat next to him. Hmm. I was going to have to talk to her about that.

When we were almost through with our fifth round of pancakes, mom opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. After five times of this, I finally said, "Spit it out, Mom. What's up?"

"Two things," she said after everyone had looked at her (everyone except the Gasman-his food was apparently more important). "Jeb is coming over around noon. He wants to talk to you. The second thing-well, Max and Fang, how would you guys like to have driver's licenses?" she looked over at us as everyone else started talking again.

Fang caught my gaze and, with a longing for adventure, nodded yes. "Hell, yea!" I said. This was good. Now, instead of illegally "borrowing" cars, than illegally driving them, we would just illegally steal them. Isn't the sentence shorter that way?

"Good. Then when Jeb comes, we'll talk to him about that, too," Mom said as she started to clear away the dishes. I got up to help her, and so did Ella. Thus began our hectic day.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

"Ella, what's going on with you and Iggy?" I asked as I scrubbed a dish.

She blushed and looked down. "I don't know. But…" she trailed off.

I finished rinsing the dish and put it on Mom's drying rack. I turned and leaned against the cabinet as I gently told her, "It's ok, El. I'm listening; I'm here if you ever need anyone to talk to."

"What do you know about anything? Beside, I can't talk to you-you're always _on the run_!" she exploded as she slammed down the dish and stalked off to her room.

I sighed.

"Hey," said Fang as he peered around the corner. I gave a small smile at him, knowing that he had heard the entire dialog.

I sighed. "Fang, what did I do wrong?" I said. He came up to me and just…held me. I buried my head into his chest, trying to blink back the tears. "Why do we always have to be on the run? Damn it! I hate this. I can't…I can't save the world and be there for Ella and Mom at the same time."

"Shh, shh," Fang cooed softly, petting my hair. How un-Fang-like. "It will be alright."

"How do you know?"

He faked a sigh. "Max, how many times do I have to tell you? I know everything."

"Sure you do," I said. "So what's the president's middle name?"

"Ha, ha." He let go (unwillingly, almost). "Don't worry, talk to Ella. It'll work out." He reached over, grabbed a dish and started scrubbing.

"Thanks." I turned around and finished the dishes. What was wrong with me? I'm getting so emotional. I think those scientists screwed up and wired me with to much girly emotions. I finished putting the last dish on the drying rack and took a glance at the clock: thirty minutes till noon.

"Shoot! Jeb will be here in half an hour, and we still haven't talked to Mom about Iggy."

Knock, knock.

"Come in," said Mom from inside her office.

Fang opened the door. He held it open for me and bowed like those old English butlers. Jerk. I went through but made sure that I elbowed his stomach of the way in.

"Max, Fang. What's up?" She asked as she stood up.

"Are you busy?" Fang asked.

"No…" she trailed off, seeing as what we were going to talk to her about was big.

"We'll, we need to talk to you about something." I paused, thinking how I should say my thoughts.

Mom obviously took it the wrong way. "No! Maximum Ride, you are only sixteen. You cannot be _pregnant_! I had though-no I would have _hoped_- you two would be more re-"

Fang burst out laughing. "Hell, no, Mom!" I said. "It's about Iggy and his blindness."

"Oh" was all she said out loud. Although, I swear I heard her mutter something under her breath like: "Thank you God. I am so not ready for that."

"Umm…" I said, stalling for time. I gave Fang a look that I dubbed the Little Help Here Look.

He took over. "Dr. Martinez, we would like to see if Iggy's blindness can be removed, or cured." I gave him a grateful smile, which he returned with a smug look. I resisted the urge to stick out my tongue, but rolled my eyes.

"Oh. Well, that's a great idea! I'll have to talk to one of my old peers from collage. He is an eye specialist. Sound okay?" she asked. You could hear the relief floating out of her voice in tons.

I had to ask. "Mom, will Iggy have to do tests?" Fang and I looked at each other. This was the part that we were most worried about. We had all been mentally upset by the test at the school, but Fang, Iggy and I were, in my opinion, scarred the most, seeing as we had been there the longest (aside from the malicious scientists). So we had to be paranoid about Iggy's could-be procedure.

"Yes," she answered. Then she took a look at my face and continued. "But, I'll make sure that those tests will _not _be harmful _at all_."

"Good. Thanks," I said as I shot her a grateful smile. She returned it.

Then, the doorbell rang.


	17. Chapter 17

Mom hurried out to the furnished hallway, Fang and I following closely behind. She then looked through the peephole and opened the door to let Jeb in. After quick greetings were exchanged and coats were taken and put away, Mom lead us into her cramped mess hall. We all sat down, and waited impatiently for Jeb to begin.  
He opened up his breifcase and passes out some papers, a stack for Fang and I and one for himself and Mom.  
I glanced over them, glimpsing at word and soaking it all in. Experimemts, reproduce, mission, plans were all words that popped out at me. After I was done glancing over the documents, I shared a look at Fang, and glanced over at Jeb. He was looking at us with a grave look on his tattered face. "Explain, Jeb. Right now." I said firmly. I could feel Fang tense next to me as the tension in the room rose up a notch.  
He nodded and began a speech. "Itex is coming back. Regrouping, nursing their wounds, they have moved their leader branch to Virginia, about an hour away from DC. Their lab is mostly underground, in manmade caves. It is about five hundred miles undernieth the Earth, and streaches all the way into parts of Kentucky and Tennesee. Maximum," he said looking strait at me. "You must stop them. They are regrouging, rebuilding. They are making hybrids, more by the hour. To capture you and the Flock. They are making perfect humans, like Omega, and procedung with the By-Half Plan. Do you understand? If you don't complete this mission sucessfully, the fate of the world will be at stake, and life as we know it will change."  
Well he doesn't beat around the bush much, does he?  
I sighed. "So basically, you're telling me that we've gotta get in there, without anyone noticing us, plant some of Iggy and the Gasman's new creation, get out, then blow it up?" I asked in my usual down-to-Earth tone. I heard two whispered shouts of joy and the sound of two recombinant's palms slapping together. Brother.  
"Oh, and another thing," Mom began, catching my nod. "Iggy's blindness. is there any way to cure it?"  
Jeb took a deep breath. "Yes."  
That's when we heard the bang from outside the door.  
"Max! Iggy fainted!" called Nudge. Fang and I rushed out to the door to see the damage.  
But by the time we got there, Iggy was already up, and his dull, sightless eyes shined with excitement. "Are you guys serious? Awesome! When were you going to tell me?" He and the Gasman slapped a high five.  
I rolled my eyes and said to the cook of the flock, "Yeah, we're serious. We thought that you might want to see Ella blush everytime you look at her," I smirked as the both of them looked down at the floor, turning a crisom red. "Anyways, we were going to tell you after we got things locked down, had a final answer, you know..." I trailed off. I turned around, so I was looking at the possible traitor and my mother. "Do you think that we could maybe bring our little party to the living room so the rest of the flock could hear it without evesdropping?"  
Jeb nodded and went to get his stuff and set up on the living room. Five minutes later, we were all seated in various seats-Gazzy and Nudge in the loveseat (with Angel on Nudge's lap). Iggy, Ella (who was next to him on the arm), Mom, and Jeb squashed into the beaten up couch, while Fang and I sat on pillows.  
"So..." I began, not sure where to start.  
"Max, I can make calls, try to get someone that will help, but I cannot make any promises. Okay?" Jeb said as he looked at me.  
Fang and I looked at each other, then at Iggy. "Iggy, how do you feel about this?" I asked him gently.  
He nodded so fast I thought that his head was going to fall off. "He-eck yeah!"  
I rolled my eyes at his language correct, but said nothing.  
Since no one knew what to say, Mom tried to fill the silence. "Jeb, we haven't had lunch yet, so would you like to join us?"  
"Sure. I'd be glad to." He answered.  
"Alright," said Mom. She got up and went over into the cupon box. "Alright, guys, come and pick what you want!"  
After that, all you could hear was the sound of pounding feet running to the kitchen.

Alright guys, I know that it's been, oh, about, a month since I updated-probably longer...well...here it is. I will try to update about once every week or so, but I'm not making any promises. So...for the next chapter, I need at least ten reviews...ok? Other ways, I won't know if you liked it or not, and I won't know if I should update it or not, let alone continue it! Enjoy!


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